Gain insight into the different activities that make up the marketing mix and other essential communication strategies. This Marketing MSc helps you understand the many challenges and opportunities that organisations face today and provides you with the skills to apply your knowledge to real world marketing challenges.
As technology has evolved and consumer needs and wants have changed, organisations once dominant in their industries have faltered (eg, Nokia, Yellow Pages, Kodak or Sony). Now, organisations which were lesser known have prospered and come to dominate the markets they serve (think Google, Tata or Huawei). More recently, even the mighty Apple has come under increased threat from competitors who have arguably understood customer needs better and provided customers with superior value.
This Master’s is for business and management graduates as well as non-business graduates who wish to enhance their marketing knowledge and expertise. It covers all aspects of marketing, equipping the modern marketing manager with the necessary tools for a successful career.
This programme places great emphasis on socially responsible marketing and the role of marketing within society. You learn from an internationally recognised team of marketing and business thinkers who are experts in their areas, and you are encouraged to pursue your own development with marketing expertise and real world skills that are in demand.
Graduates may go on to choose a career in consumer or business to business marketing. You will be equipped to work in a variety of marketing functions including marketing analytics, marketing communications, sales and brand management, in public and private sectors, NGOs, consultancies and across a diverse range of sectors and industries.
The MSc Marketing programme is available with an optional industrial placement. Find out more under Course structure.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and exists to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve the skills of marketing practitioners. Kent Business School has joined forces with CIM to give students the opportunity to gain professional qualifications through CIM Graduate Gateway. CIM qualifications are highly sought after by employers, and map alongside the Marketing MSc degree, ensuring you are equipped with the best opportunities for a successful marketing career.
The Business School has a wide range of funding opportunities for postgraduate students, which include Scholarships, Bursaries, the Double Loyalty Scheme for University of Kent undergraduates and the KBS Early Bird Scheme. The Early Bird equates to a 10% discount on tuition fees.
For more information on funding available from the University of Kent, please visit the Student Funding page.
Kent Business School has excellent links with business schools globally, including in China, USA, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy. Our wide array of exchange partners give you the opportunity to gain international experience. Our partners are committed to enhancing their international outlook while providing excellent teaching. You will gain invaluable work experience, develop your understanding of a new culture and improve your language skills.
Our exchange partners include these top ranked institutions amongst others:
With over 25 years’ experience delivering business education, Kent Business School is a leading UK business school, both for the standard of our teaching and student satisfaction. Our portfolio of postgraduate programmes demonstrates the breadth and depth of our expertise. Academic research and links with global business inform our teaching, ensuring a curriculum that is relevant and current. We also hold a number of accreditations by professional bodies.
Studying at Kent Business School (KBS) gives you the opportunity to increase your employability with real-life case studies, a student council and a business society. We have strong links to local and national organisations providing opportunities for projects, internships and graduate placements. The School attracts many high-profile speakers from industry and last year included visits and lectures from staff of the Bank of England, BAE Systems, Barclays, Lloyds Insurance, Cummins, Delphi and Kent County Council.
A good honours degree (minimum 2:2) from the UK or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, international fee-paying students cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
The University requires all non-native speakers of English to reach a minimum standard of proficiency in written and spoken English before beginning a postgraduate degree.
For detailed information see our English language requirements web pages.
Applicants who are required to meet an English language condition may be able to study a pre-sessional course in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The course structure provides a sample of the modules available for this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Please check the module content for suitability if you have significant prior knowledge or experience of marketing.
For students who wish to enhance their employability further, this programme offers the opportunity to undertake work experience in the UK or overseas, through the option to undertake the programme with an additional industrial placement. Placements are self-sought and can range from an additional 12 to 50 weeks. This would extend the normal 12 month Masters programme to a maximum of 24 months.
The School offers support to those students seeking the industrial placement option, through extra-curricular engagement with our dedicated placements team. Our dedicated placement team can help you gain a suitable paid position and provide support throughout your placement. Students considering this option should be aware that they will be required to successfully complete all stage 1 modules and that there may be additional costs for students in terms of visa extensions, Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and accommodation, for example.
The programme involves a taught and a project component. The taught programme is assessed by a mixture of coursework assignments throughout the year, and by examinations in May and June.
Once these are completed, students then work full time on the Marketing Report. This provides an opportunity to apply the techniques and insights presented in the programme and apply them to a particular problem area.
This programme aims to:
You develop knowledge and understanding of:
You gain intellectual skills in:
You develop subject-specific skills in:
You gain transferable skills in:
Kent Business School occupies The Sibson Building, a vibrant new campus destination. The state-of-the-art building includes dedicated postgraduate and IT suites, academic and research workspaces, three lecture theatres and social learning spaces.
Each postgraduate student is assigned a specific member of academic staff who acts as your first point of contact throughout your studies. There is a lively postgraduate community at the School, with plenty of space to relax and interact with your fellow students and our academic staff.
Kent’s libraries offer over a million books, periodicals and journals, as well as subject-specific librarians to help you find the information you need. We also offer excellent teaching facilities with tailor-made specialist resources and access to a range of software packages used in quantitative analysis and finance.
Kent Business School has more than 60 internationally recognised academics from 22 different countries. Most of our teaching faculty are involved with researching the latest issues in business and management, working with organisations to provide new insight for business leaders and policymakers. Their knowledge and findings feed into the programmes to ensure they are both cutting-edge and globally relevant.
Kent Business School has close links with: ifs (Institute of Financial Services); dunnhumby, who partners the Consumer Insight Service in the Centre for Value Chain Research; Hong Kong Baptist University, with whom we offer a joint Master’s programme in Operational Research and Finance Business Statistics; University of Castellanza (Italy); Audencia Nantes Business School (France); Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences (Denmark); Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; University of Ingolstadt, Bayern (Germany); City University of Hong Kong; Renmin University of China, School of Business.
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money; International Journal of Finance & Economics; Journal of Banking and Finance; European Journal of Operational Research; Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting; Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control; European Journal of Finance; Journal of Asset Management; International Review of Financial Analysis.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Research activities at Kent Business School are broadly organised into six areas;
Research in our Marketing group cuts across four main domains including, marketing strategy and performance; product development and innovation; buyer behaviour; and the management of supply (value) chains and market delivery systems. Projects cover a wide range of themes ranging from the marketing department’s influence on organisational performance, determinants of marketing innovation, brand and product development success, and pricing, advertising and distribution effectiveness, to marketing information/decision-support systems utilisation, value co-creation by open innovation, and consumer evaluation and processing of product communications.
The group has a long tradition in its sectoral focus on the food industry which has complemented its aim of promoting empirical, international and interdisciplinary research to enhance marketing theory and practice. Ongoing and future projects will continue to extend its sectoral foci to emerging market economies, high-technology and new (social and digital) media environments. In addition, the group’s empirical and policy-oriented work is supported by the strong links with industry and an international network of research partners.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
You gain much more than an academic qualification when you graduate from Kent Business School – we enhance your student experience and accelerate your career prospects.
In today’s business climate employers are increasingly demanding more from new employees, we are therefore proud that they continually target our graduates for their organisations across the globe. Employers respect our robust teaching and reputation for delivering international business expertise, leading global research and an outstanding international learning experience.
From the moment you start with us, our efforts are focused on helping you gain the knowledge, skills and experience you need to thrive in an increasingly competitive workplace.
Graduates have gone on to work for companies including, Deloitte, Fujitsu Services Ltd, Pace Capital, Ciry Sprint, J.P Morgan & Chase and BP.
Kent Business School have partnered with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the leading professional body for marketers worldwide, to give you the unique opportunity to gain highly sought after CIM qualifications alongside the MSc in Marketing through their Graduate Gateway.
Kent Business School is a member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS); and the Kent MBA is an Association of MBAs (AMBA) accredited programme.
In addition, KBS has accredited programmes with the following professional bodies:
KBS is a signatory of the United Nation's Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), which provides a global network for academic institutions to advance corporate sustainability and social responsibility.
The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £9,250.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:
Next steps
This course page is for the 2020/21 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of postgraduate courses we offer.
Supporting your success
Kent ranked top 50 in The Complete University Guide 2024.
Fees and funding
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
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